Dunn/en

The Dunn was founded in 1921, and was one of the many manufacturers born in the golden age of the American fountain pen, when virtually every company was founded on the basis of the invention of some technical innovation. In the case of Dunn, the invention that gave life to the company was the filling mechanism, which, due to its effectiveness, allowed it to obtain good market shares.

But Dunn's life was very short, the company closed its doors in 1924 (or 1927, depending on sources). In its short life however Dunn produced good quality and robust fountain pens, equipped with an efficient and advanced filling system that was years ahead to those of its competitors.

Dunn
Brand pages
Brand advertising
Brand photos
Patents

History

An oversize model

Dunn was founded in New York in 1921, located at 300 Madison Avenue, but curiously Charles Dunn, the inventor which gave its name to the company, was not between its owners because he died by tuberculosis just few days before the company foundation. It was him that in 1920 created and patented (Patent nº US-1359880) an original pump filling system similar to the one used by OMAS, more than 10 years later, for the Lucens. The new filling system allowed to store a large ink capacity, so that one of the slogans adopted for the market launch the Camel Tatler model was: "A regular camel for ink, goes a month without a drink".

Advertising of 1922, with the slogan A regular camel for ink, goes a month without a drink

All Dunn fountain pens were produced using this particular filling system, which also characterized their style; the back of the pen, used as a knob of the pump filling system was carried out in red plastic (initially in hard rubber, then replaced by casein, a perishable and lower quality material), so it formed a distinctive feature of the pen, that in another slogan was described as "The fountain pen with the red pump handle".

Initially the Dunn pens were made in hard rubber and were of good quality; the company distinguished itself by an extensive advertising campaign. The pump mechanism was simple and robust, and the pens were produced in a variety of models from small pens for women's to the Dreadnaught giant model (produced also in regular dimensions). An interesting feature, from a technical point of view, was also the introduction of a the caps composed by two parts, whose top section could be unscrew in order to discover the nib, but leaving it shielded by a protective cage in order to consent to fill the pen without pressing dangerously the nib on the bottom of the ink bottle.

In addition to black hard rubber Dunn produced also bakelite pens with a transparent barrel (though most of the transparent models were later made in celluloid) boasting (rightly) of being the only transparent pen (with the model named Camel Tatler) to display the ink level, and a good 10 years before the Vacumatic. Are also known to exists, but to be very rare, some metal overlay pens.

The end of the company is not very clear, someone report a bankruptcy in 1924 caused by a prolonged strike of all the employees. Others say that the company continued operation until 1927, because there are trace of it having headquarters in New York, 71 Fifth Ave, when it went off market by its incapacity to adapt its production to the era of the colored celluloid pens. It seems that in 1924 there was a first instance of failure (whose causes seem to be specifically tied if not for a strike to serious problems of labor relations), which was followed by an attempt to reorganize the company with a re-foundation and a different location from the original in order to avoid debtor lawsuits. This was unsuccessful, leading a few years later to the final bankruptcy.

Chronology

Year	Event
1921	the company is founded by Charles Dunn in New York as The Dunn Pen and Pencil Company, Inc.
1924	the company get its first bankrupcy filing
1927	the company ceases operations

External references

• [1] Dunn page on Richard Binder website
• [2] Dunn page on David Nishimura website
• [3] Dunn page on Pen and Watch website
• [4] Presentation of a Senior.